The proliferation of on-line shopping has significantly changed the retail landscape. Increasingly, customers are enjoying the convenience, speed and ability to browse in comfort that Internet shopping enables. Descriptions for a system, apparatus and method of virtual jewelry shopping, as well as the design of customized jewelry pieces from a remote location, are described in U.S. application Ser. Nos. 13/837,374; 13/837,495; 13/837,610, all of which are incorporated by reference herein.
Due to the expensive price tag and unique nature of fine jewelry, some customers may be hesitant to purchase luxury jewelry items sight unseen. For example, in purchasing loose diamonds, since no two diamonds are alike, a customer may be especially particular about seeing the actual stone in person. Thus, it may be desirable for online jewelry retailers to partner with local brick-and-mortar stores in order to provide additional features and opportunities for their online retail customers.
Moreover, there is a large secondary market of used jewelry item that also may be sold via a reputable on-line retailer.